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Sunday, March 18, 2012

The Things I Didn't Know About St. Patrick's Day

So I went to a really lovely St. Patrick's Day party yesterday hosted by my friend from Dublin. It was a fantastic way to blow off steam and take a break from studying for finals. While at the party, I realized that, despite being part Irish, I had a lot of misconceptions. Here are but a few of them:

Irish (the language) can in fact function, despite lacking both a participle and an infinitive. They basically have really crazy syntax with what is essentially a gerund. Super cool.

Black and Tans are not only not an Irish tradition, but they are actually offensive. I don't know whether the drink or the paramilitary group came first, but apparently a paramilitary group sent to put down the Irish Independence movement was named the Black and Tans for their khaki uniforms. I just assumed because Deco mentions drinking black and tans in The Commitments that they were an Irish drink, but he was supposed to be a generally offensive character. Nike made a similar mistake when they released a St. Patrick's day shoe called the Black and Tan. Oops.

Spotted Dog is not Irish. In fact, it is much sweeter than traditional Irish soda bread, although it is made in a similar manner.

One I already knew, but though I would add anyway is that the Irish don't drink Irish Car Bombs, a drink made with whiskey, Guinness, and Irish Cream. For obvious reasons, the name is offensive. So Cerinthus renamed it a Warp Spasm, which is a famous translation of an Old Irish word for battle frenzy (I think).

Anyway, I have to get back to work, but I thought I would share some of this. Have a lovely Sunday, everyone!

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